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EIGHTH-MILE NATIONAL DRAGGING

Sat, 2007-03-24 12:19

For the first time since 1974, the IHRA will stage a full-fledged national
event on an eighth-mile racing surface. The decision was made on safety.
Following an oildown during Friday evening qualifying, IHRA officials noticed
the racing surface was compromised and required repaving to rectify the
situation.

Friday's qualifying has been recalculated on eighth-mile elapsed
times. Most of the top qualifiers remained atop their respective fields
except for two classes - Top Fuel and Alcohol Funny Car. The new low
qualifiers are now Bruce Litton and Terry Munroe respectively.

An official statement for the IHRA is forthcoming.

For the first time since 1974, the IHRA will stage a full-fledged national
event on an eighth-mile racing surface. The decision was made on safety.
Following an oildown during Friday evening qualifying, IHRA officials noticed
the racing surface was compromised and required repaving to rectify the
situation.

Friday's qualifying has been recalculated on eighth-mile elapsed times. Most of the top qualifiers remained atop their respective fields except for two classes - Top Fuel and Alcohol Funny Car. The new low qualifiers are now Bruce Litton and Terry Munroe respectively.

“In order to
give IHRA racers the best racing surface possible, San Antonio Raceway officials
decided several months ago to undertake a major track re-grinding process prior
to the national event,” said IHRA Vice President of Race Operations Skooter
Peaco. “Unfortunately, our good intentions exposed a weak spot in the right lane
asphalt, and after nearly a full day of cars going down the track, it came to a
point where a few areas in the right lane were actually starting to need
repair.

“The safety of
our racers, fans and officials always comes first, so naturally, upon this
discovery, we immediately ceased action in the right lane.”

Instead of just
patching the areas in question, officials and crews worked through the night to
replace about 650 feet of the right lane, starting at about the 500-ft. mark of
the track through the finish line. Saturday racing was rescheduled to begin at
11 a.m. with sportsman
time-trials.

“The crews did
an amazing job, working all night and literally putting in a new surface on a
portion of the track,” said Peaco. “It’s amazing to think about the amount of
work that was completed in such a short amount of time and the problem we had on
Friday was totally fixed. There were no shortcuts taken on this project and the
end result is basically a new right lane to ensure there are no additional
issues.”

Early Saturday
morning, race officials decided to run the rest of the Texas Nationals on the
1/8-mile.

“We have
consistently proven that we do not take unnecessary risks, period. Therefore,
the decision to run an 1/8-mile race was made out of concern for the safety of
our racers,” said Peaco. “We fixed the ¼-mile and know we could contest the race
that way, but we are erring to the side of caution and safety. It was a
difficult decision, but considering the risk factors, it was a simple
call.”